Orchard Taiko

Autumnal greetings!

Has it really been almost a month since my last post? Time sure flies when you're a happy (and busy) gigster...

Speaking of gigs, on September 26 four Odaiko New England (ONE) Community Members (yours truly, Cat, Diane & Joy) trekked up to Shelburne Orchard outside of Burlington, VT, for the "Ringo Matsuri", or Apple Festival, hosted by Burlington Taiko Group (http://www.burlingtontaiko.org/). This event features apple-picking (of course), fresh cider & pies for sale and various other activities - and lots of taiko drumming! It's open to other groups; a few of us from ONE had attended the previous Ringo Matsuri in 2007 and really enjoyed the experience, so we were really looking forward to this year's event.

This year, in addition to Burlington Taiko and ONE, three other taiko groups were represented: Arashi Daiko (http://www.arashidaiko.org/) from Montreal, Oto-wa Taiko from Ottawa, and UConn Taiko.

Burlington Taiko and its sensei, Stuart Paton, kicked things off with a lively Shishi-mai or Lion Dance, followed by a spirited version of the song "Sokobayashi".

We followed with a solid version of "Hamon" which garnered a big round of applause. :-)

The other groups followed, and everyone played really well - outstanding taiko! We played one of our crowd-pleaser songs, Shin-en, and invited members from other groups to join in, which was fun. A highlight was an all-hands-on-deck version of the well-known piece, "Hiryu Sandan Gaeshi" (more-or-less an invitation for the Dragon God to visit Earth and bless it three times). Since all the different groups had their own 'matsuri' section in the middle, it was decided to jettison that part so everyone could just play the main part. What a splendid noise we all created! It was really something to be surrounded by about 25 other drummers rocking out.

Later on, another highlight was provided by members of Oto-wa Taiko and Arashi Daiko teaming up to play the Kodo song "Zoku". A powerful performance, which was punctuated by Arashi Daiko's Sandra wielding the 'baseball bat' and walloping the daylights out of an odaiko: Afterwards, while the Burlington group packed up its equipment, many of us from the various groups took a leisurely stroll around the Orchard - a nice opportunity for us to chat, take photos & relax. Though our work wasn't done for the day...

As a special treat for the guest taiko groups, Burlington Taiko hosted a gathering at their dojo, with a big potluck group dinner followed by - of course! - more taiko playing. We played a song from San Francisco Taiko Dojo's repertoire, "Tsunami", which Stuart learned when he studied with Tanaka Sensei at the SFTD, and everyone had a chance to solo on Burlington's homemade odaiko. A fitting end to a delightful day of music and rhythm!

Extra special thanks to Stuart and Burlington Taiko Group, Jean-Francois and Arashi Daiko, and everyone else who contributed. The invigorating and nurturing spirit of taiko and the larger taiko community was much in evidence, and greatly inspiring.

Odaiko New England performing in "Taiko 10"

Hi,
With a humble apology for not posting sooner. I owe you all about 37 1/8 posts' worth of entries, so I won't dally.
To return to this year's North American Taiko Conference (yes, more than a month later I'm still absolutely soaring off that experience), Odaiko New England had the good fortune to be selected for the Conference's "Taiko 10" concert. This concert is intended to give 10 groups a chance to perform for their taiko friends & peers - for ten minutes each.
We were really thrilled to be chosen...but then we had to think about "what can we play?"
11 of us were attending the conference, and there was no question of performing anything without all 11 of us. However, individually we possessed varying degrees of repertoire, skill sets, and so forth, making the song choice(s) no simple task. Complicating this further is the question, "What can we play that shows our capabilities best?" We could have played "Mahora", which would've filled the 10 minute slot nicely, but that song doesn't feature some of the dramatic choreography that makes taiko so visually compelling.

Mark (our Artistic Director) settled on an arrangement of a familiar (well, familiar to taiko players young and old) piece, "Shin-En". This arrangement has a little power, it has a little style, and there's enough going on to make it entertaining. To add some flair, Mark brought in a ringer, former Ondekoza member Marco Leinhard, to ply his virtuoso shakuhachi and fue skills on our behalf and help stretch the piece to about 8 or 9 minutes in length.

Great!

So, on Friday evening, August 7, we're decked out in our very cool new happi coats, awaiting our turn (next to last) and watching the other taiko groups strut their stuff.

After awhile, we're noticing that some of the groups play for much longer than 10 minutes.

After awhile, we're noticing that some of the groups play outstanding taiko.

Professional-grade taiko.

Some of the soloists (especially members of Maze Daiko) are truly exceptional performers.

{uh-oh}

And we have to follow all that.

{gulp}

Determined to play our best & have fun, we went for it.
Somewhat inexpertly, but with a lot of enthusiasm.
For proof, check out this video link to the Taiko 10 groups' performances (an ironic thing about this is that there were...actually....9 groups for this concert. Not sure how that came about) and see for yourself how we fared. :-)

http://www.scruffyfilms.net/taiko10/Taiko10/Taiko_Videos.html

(note: special thanks to Kathy Fuller & San Diego Taiko for filming it all, and to Elaine Fong of Maze Daiko for providing us with the link!)

Oh yes, as an extra note: a few of my friends who have already seen the video of Odaiko New England have found it amusing that I, the biggest guy in the group, played the smallest drum, the shime-daiko, for this song. ( ! )

Still 'flying' almost 3 weeks after Taiko Conference

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while - but I've been busy writing a couple posts for Odaiko New England's very own blog, as well as taking notes during our taiko retreat this past weekend, and almost playing our canceled-at-the-last-minute-gig (more on that soon, as it deserves its own blog entry!), and getting a VERY cool new toy for my bass - a SansAmp Bass Driver DI. I'll have to write about that, also, because it's amazing. But back to the point I wanted to get around to for tonight: I'm still completely stoked about taiko'ing in the wake of that Conference.

Something that has really settled in these past couple of weeks are the inspirational stories one hears about & reads about. Or sees in person. Who ever heard of a wheelchair-bound taiko player? Well, there is one, and this individual is a powerful shimedaiko player. Or how about a taiko player who started at age 55, if memory serves, and has continued drumming into her 80's? Stories such as these made me finally realize I can't complain about much of anything in terms of my own taiko playing & skills development. Yes, I'm not the most flexible guy...in fact, there are probably 2 x 4's that possess superior flexibility. I started taiko in my late 30's and not my late teens. I have bursitis in my left knee, which reminds me of that fact from time to time. And I'm a big, tall guy, etc. But if these other people can work around what some might regard as limitations to play excellent taiko, then I too can overcome my own hindrances.

(Perhaps I could have skipped explaining all that and just written "Dave, stop complaining and start playing good taiko" instead?)

A great weekend at the 2009 North American Taiko Conference!

I'll try not to get carried away by my enthusiasm while I write this...

Got back just before midnight yesterday from the taiko conference. 11 of us from Odaiko New England attended - more than half our group! (In the days prior to the conference, 3 of my fellow Community Members attended the 3-day Summer Taiko Institute (STI for short) led by ON Ensemble - after hearing about it, I wish I'd attended that as well...) We had a GREAT time there...the workshops and instructors were truly excellent, the taiko playing was inspiring, energetic, and also challenging (some of the other groups out there kick major ass - there's just no more direct way to phrase it). Some highlights from the 4 days - I'll go into more detail later:

Thursday - some 495 taiko players were in attendance, besides volunteers, observers, photographers and staff. Registration went smoothly, and in the afternoon many of us participated in the Leadership Forum. A very good discussion of some of the challenges and 'larger questions' many groups face. This was followed by the welcome reception/potluck dinner - kudos to the taiko players who prepared all that delicious food! One taiko group performed afterward, then there was a fun jam with players rotating in and out based on their # of years playing (i.e. 0-5 years began, then 6-10 years rotated in and so forth).

Friday - Opening Session, a really fun Taiko Games session presented at lunchtime, led by Kris of ON Ensemble, Workshop Session 1 (I attended Western Notation for Taiko Players, taught by Meg Suzuki of San Jose Taiko), a special video tribute to Daihachi Oguchi, the first Japanese taiko master to introduce the concept of kumi daiko (ensemble drumming), and the Taiko Ten concert. More on THAT soon - because I performed in it!

Saturday - Workshop Session 2 (I attended All-Around Musicianship, taught by Eien Hunter-Ishikawa), then I parted ways with some hard-earned income for various and assorted taiko goodies at the Taiko Marketplace - so many vendors with cool merchandise to beguile and tempt us taiko'ers! After lunch there were discussion groups; I sat in on 'Studying & Performing Taiko in Japan'. That discussion group was incredible - it deserves a special blog post all of its own. This was followed by Workshop Session # 3 (I attended the terrific WRISTS!, taught by Adam Weiner of San Jose Taiko). Odaiko New England members gathered to take Tanya out for her birthday (this effort was coordinated & planned by her daughter Jadelyn), then we headed back for the incredible Taiko Jam concert (more on that later - some phenomenal performances!!).

Sunday - Closing Ceremony and the group photo. I saved my purple member's Odaiko New England tee for Sunday, and it turned out to be a wise decision - as Mark observed, because of my height, size and wearing a purple tee, I served as a beacon for any of the other members lost in the crowd.

More to come, but I just had to get an overview posted now. NATC '09 was such a great experience & I met so many cool people. What an affirmation of taiko!

Ready to Groove?

Konnichi wa,
Welcome to my blog!
In case you didn't already know, the Bass in "Bass'n'Taiko" refers to bass guitar - not a fish; the Taiko refers to the Japanese word for drum, as well as the style of drumming made popular by Kodo and many other groups.

I've been playing bass guitar for nearly 30 years, and have been studying taiko drumming with Odaiko New England for about 7 years (I had a 2-year taiko'ing hiatus to finish off my degree). More to come about both of these activities - in fact, much more.

I maintained a blog in a Yahoo!"360" account from August, 2008 through early Spring, 2009. Unfortunately, the 360 account suffered some strange occurrences (and my blog even disappeared for a couple weeks at one point) and I encountered difficulty in maintaining it and adding new entries. When I finally managed to access everything again, I salvaged all of my blog entries before the 360 pages and blogs were sent to the online equivalent of the Great Gig in the Sky (which happened in early July), so I have installed them here - with their original post dates.

I'll do my best to get caught up on events between March '09 and now.....as they say, "stay tuned".

A happy gigster busy with benefits

Hi All,

Have been really busy with practices & rehearsals, but found a few minutes to sneak an entry in regarding the benefit shows I'm playing this weekend. Won't receive any remuneration for these (this is perhaps ironically appropriate given the lousy economy?) gigs, but the causes they're for are ones I'm supportive of anyway, so it's nice to be able to contribute something musical.

The first gig is tonight, actually, at a venue called Encuentro5 in Boston. Mary & the band are playing a handful of songs (there are like 11 acts altogether) to help raise fund$ for a Boston-based group to travel to El Salvador next month to monitor elections.

The second gig is Sunday night at Woburn High School with Odaiko New England. Woburn is another one of the Massachusetts cities with a weird name that doesn't quite get pronounced phonetically - it sounds like Wu-burn. It's a telethon to raise money for a local food shelter. We're playing a 10+ minute song titled "Mahora" (a rough translation of the title is "beautiful place"). A somewhat curious title, since one might accurately refer to the song as a 'testosterone' taiko piece - very aggressive and noisy. It's macho taiko.

Batala Washington

Hi All,

Just wanted to add a couple extra observations about our DC Trip...

Monday the 19th:
We had gone to the Dupont Circle area and came across a ritual purification of the White House (obviously the Secret Service wouldn't be especially keen on this event occurring on-site). A couple people were exhorting the crowd with a vigor reminiscent of old-time preachers, leading everyone in various call-and-response chants and such. There must have been the equivalent of fifty pounds of sage that was smoldering as the event drew to a close. A couple of other drummers started playing, so we chimed in (no pun intended?) with our own equipment, and cobbled together a decent groove.

The more-or-less lead drummer informed us there was going to be a performance by a female Brazilian percussion group later that evening, & gave us the general location - it would be outdoors, so we figured to just follow the sound of the drums.

When we arrived, there was a large group of drummers laying down some very serious grooves; they all wore their drums slung mid- to - low on the hips. Their choreography didn't have some of the big, sweeping features of some styles of Taiko drumming; nonetheless the members played through the rhythms with fluid arm movements, and overall a remarkable blend of grace and power, non-stop, over the course of their lengthy performance. The nearly 50-member group was very together-sounding, and could stop-and-restart with a different rhythm pattern on a dime. Most impressive.

http://www.batalawashington.com/

The group also has a Facebook page - if you're on Facebook, become a fan so you can receive updates, etc.

Wednesday the 21st:
The big drive back to Boston.
Thanks to Google Maps, we are equipped with a different route, which skirts NYC and thus is quicker. We effortlessly get through Maryland & Delaware....

then....

we miss a redirection to get on 295 in New Jersey.

Fie on Google Maps!!!

Our involuntary detour took us into Pennsylvania and we soon became ensnared in the early stages of Philadelphia's rush hour. Everyone not driving consulted the Atlas and GPS Nav System to try and figure out how & where to transition back on course. We eventually figured it out, and after a roundabout, three-up, four-down, five-to-go series of exits, connecting roads and a toll gate or two, we got back on track and from there it was smooth sailing.

Well, driving. ; )

Inauguration Day, Part 2

Picking up from where I left off, we exited the cafe and began to make our way towards Dupont Circle, where a Drum Parade was scheduled for 2:00 pm, starting with a jam session before going mobile. However, it was taking us a long time to get there, and it was already after 2....
and we needed a bathroom break.

Fortunately, Karen knew another friend in DC, who kindly allowed us to stop in for a few minutes. I'm not sure Karen's friend was prepared for a scruffy, bedraggled, taiko-playing interloper (that would be me, dear reader) plus Greg & Karen, invading her refined home. However, our hostess and her guests graciously welcomed us and gave us a chance to take a nature break, warm up a little and refuel with some tasty comestibles. The break also gave us a chance to figure out where we could intercept and join the drum parade.

Refreshed and ready to rock'n'roll, we bade farewell to our cheerful hostess and set off armed with drums, cowbell, and bachi. Paused at an intersection, we could hear the sound of the drums approaching...and the parade soon came to a stop where we were waiting. This was the second of three jam sessions, and we quickly joined in. The parade was somewhat smaller than I expected (though the absence of the Batala Washington group hurt their numbers - more on the Batala group in my next post), but people were drumming enthusiastically.

I've got to mention this amazing apparatus....at first sight it looked like a bizarre Rube Goldberg contraption. I'm still not sure exactly how it was constructed; it seemed rather like a custom hybrid of wheelbarrow, bicycle and antenna. ( ! ) Truly, though, it was a clever construct, one that Mickey Hart (long-serving drummer for The Grateful Dead) would be proud of: hanging off of it, mainly on the sides and in the rear, were a variety of tom-toms & other drums plus a few percussion odds'n'ends. 3 or 4 different people played these various drum surfaces, while perhaps 16-18 others were banging on a diverse mix of drumming surfaces & percussion. One person even seemed to be playing a small saucepan with a drumstick!

It was during this jam that the bachi I was using for the cowbell - already frayed from aggressive use - began to not only fray further, but literally disintegrate. My gloves and forearms were getting showered with splintering bachi bits; thinking back, it's a small wonder that I didn't suffer any eye damage - any of these could easily have ricocheted towards my face! I gave up on the cowbell at that point and played Karen's uchiwa instead.

Our fellow drummers were mostly enthusiastic, and it was an enjoyable parade to be part of. Though I have to admit that the behavior & general disposition of a few of the random people who were drumming along suggested theirs might've been a chemically-aided form of merry-making ...

By the time we finished with the 3rd & final jam near the African-American Civil War Memorial, we were really tired & cold again. The lead players of the group were most appreciative of our contributions to the parade & jam sessions; we were just happy to be drumming, and it was a lot of fun to be part of. By now further disheveled, we stopped at an Ethiopian Restaurant for a dinner of delicious beef, lamb, veggies & spicy sauces, all scooped up in that spongy sort of bread. A nice conclusion to a truly momentous day in American History - and We Were There!!

Inauguration Day 2009 - Chaos, Wonder, Excitement (part 1)

Hello Again,

Excuse me for not being exactly chronological, but I wanted to post my thoughts about Inauguration Day before I comment on some of the other elements of our adventures in the Nation's Capital...

One of the group woke up at about 6:40 AM on the 20th and kindly announced the time. As we were hoping to leave by about 7:10-7:15 for the Metro train, it was a bit of a rude awakening. I took what I call a "2 minute warning" (a pro football term, for those of you who don't follow the NFL) shave & shower and threw on a bunch of layers and my improvised hachimaki (the night before, Beth brought a bunch of white dishtowels we converted into hachimaki, inscribed with "TAIKO FOR OBAMA" in Sharpie). Karen, thinking ahead, had brought one of O.N.E.'s winter happi coats, which she wore outside her jacket and other layers. This, combined with her electric blue muffler, made for quite the unique Inaugural outfit.

We boarded the Red Line Metro train at Silver Spring station....within minutes we were gradually compressed into one big human sandwich, as more and more passengers squeezed into our car with every stop. The pack was noteworthy enough to warrant filming by a TV cameraman at one stop, though it was impossible to determine the station he worked for. We briefly debated changing to the Yellow Line when we disembarked at Gallery Place, but one look at the sea of humanity completely obscuring the platform convinced us to abandon the notion. March onward, taiko foot soldiers!

After a variety of false starts & seeking information/advice from various security personnel, we eventually charted a zig-zagging, indirect course toward the National Mall. (One noteworthy detour found us walking into a tunnel; people heading in the opposite direction informed us the way had become blocked in some way or another. I didn't mind reversing course, as it seemed as if we were descending into a cave...) Eventually we made it to the National Mall and sought out a suitable location to view a Jumbotron screen, which turned out to be a spot next to the reflecting pool - it could have doubled as a skating rink in the Arctic chill gripping the region.

We arrived in time to see the House & Senate leaders take their places, as well as the living former Presidents Carter, Bush 41, and Clinton.....Aretha Franklin - and her hat ....Justice John Paul Stevens administering the Oath of Office of the Vice President to Joe Biden.....the stirring performance by Itzhak Perlman & Yo-Yo Ma....Chief Justice Roberts administering (with a fumble) the Oath of Office of the President to Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States of America. The stirring, powerful oratory of President Obama's Inaugural Address. What a gift to have such a skilled orator as President, in this age of instant transmission of words and images.

Thrilled, but, by now chilled, the poetry reading and other final elements gave us an excuse to head for someplace to warm ourselves. A rapidly-filling cafe provided a haven from the unrelenting wind & cold and we warmed ourselves on soup, coffee, tea, sandwiches, and other treats. While the seats weren't big enough to accommodate all of us & our gear, and the food wasn't anything spectacular, it was WARM!

Inauguration Day, Part 2 to follow

Inaugural Concert, January 18th

I caught the 10:00 AM bus from South Station and enjoyed an uneventful ride to the cavernous Port Authority in NYC. I hailed a cab & then received a scenic tour of the Upper West Side en route to the hostel where my travel companions were staying (they went to NYC on Friday to see On Ensemble in concert, and I was meeting them on Saturday), but I made it there in good time. We festooned the rental minivan with DC or BUST!! signs and red, white & blue ribbon streamers and embarked upon our big trip in high spirits.

Kudos to the crew for a well-provisioned ride...even though the fresh fruit became frosty fresh fruit overnight in the frigid Manhattan air. (Hope you enjoyed the alliteration in there.) Our indefatigable drivers Beth, Karen and Matt cheerfully delivered us to Silver Spring, MD - home base for our DC adventures.

Sunday's focus was the Inaugural Concert at the Lincoln Memorial. Outfitting ourselves with cold-weather gear and percussive devices, we rode the Metro & then walked to the National Mall, stopping along the way for some cool Inaugural buttons. Once on the Mall we began to play, which in turn began to turn heads our way. A Fox affiliate's crew filmed us and briefly interviewed Greg, but we don't know which city the "Fox13" crew came from...maybe Tampa or Memphis? It was interesting to observe passersby and note how much attention you can get from banging on drums, shakers & a cowbell.

We missed the opening moments from the concert; by the time I took my first photo, Denzel Washington was addressing the throng. We heard "Lean On Me" as we approached the Washington Monument; we settled on a spot just past it, and enjoyed the words & music awhile before relocating to get closer to a jumbotron during Garth Brooks' performance. The rest was pretty good, and a favorite moment for me occurred when Pete Seeger came out to lead everyone in several verses of "This Land Is Your Land" - surely Woody Guthrie was somewhere, smiling, while that song reverberated around our Capital. On that note, I'll stop for now. I'll check in a day or two later with another installment.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone,

or, as the Japanese say,

Minna-san, Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu!

Well, I'm really happy to be able to report the DC trip is ON. 5 of us from Odaiko New England (4 Community Members, 1 student) plus two others are renting a minivan and driving down on Saturday for the MLK weekend and the Inauguration. Of course it's going to be chaos piled on top of bustling crowds stacked on top of insanity scattered atop confusion. (One might say that currently describes Wall Street...) But to experience all that? I still can't believe it's truly going to happen.

We've got places to crash...I think. Hopefully our hosts can tolerate these interlopers from Massachusetts! We're still trying to figure out what events we might be able to get in to/check out/participate in while we're there. But we'll get that all sorted out.

Of course I'm bringing my camera....and a notepad. Have got to keep a journal for all this stuff, then translate it into something coherent for my blog!

* * * * * *

And now for something completely different....

I finally got a Skype account & a decent little web cam (as did my Japanese fiancee). Can't believe we had spent such a long time without this arrangement - it's great to be able to video talk with each other over the 'Net. Though it's a bit crazy - we're probably averaging 2 hours & 15 minutes per chat. Plus, we have to take into consideration the 12+ hour time difference between Boston and Tokyo!

Well, that's enough for now. I have taiko member rehearsal tomorrow night, and of course it's bitterly cold in Boston the next coupla days....the dojo will probably be freezing. As good a reason as any to vigorously drum. : )